James Comey Does Not Hold Back: 'Those Were Lies. Plain and Simple.'

The former FBI director started his Thursday morning testimony with a bang.

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By
Jack Holmes

To the disappointment of an eager nation, defenestrated FBI Director James Comey did not read the opening statement released by the Senate Intelligence Committee aloud this morning. That means the phrase "hookers in Russia" may not be read into the Congressional record today. But Comey made up for that with a barnstorming opening statement, in which he ticked through all of the justifications the Trump administration offered following his firing and explained why none of them made much sense at all.

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That included the president's claim that the FBI was "in disarray," and "the workforce had lost confidence in its leader," accusations Comey took as unacceptable slights. "The administration chose to defame me and the FBI," he told the committee. "Those were lies. Plain and simple."

It's nice to hear someone in Washington call a lie a lie. Comey did so again later on, when discussing why he made the decision to document his meetings with Trump in memos: